Monica Murphy, ASP, IAHSP, RESA

This is the last of a 3 part series that addresses many of the questions we receive from Realtors and home owners who are calling a stager for the first time. In the first article, we talked about the first steps Preferred Staging takes when you call us and schedule an appointment to see your listing, including consultations and proposals. In the second article, we described how we present our proposals and generally how the staging process works. This week I'm going to tell you how Preferred Staging keeps working for you after the staging is completed.

Preferred Staging offers a variety of services to our clients, from staging occupied homes to vacants, color consultations, and redesign. Add to that list the use of our "after" photos for your MLS listing and marketing. My advanced degree in Architectural History and working for over five years with architectural photographs and documents for the National Park Service contribute to my knowledge of taking a good interior and exterior photo. All of my photos are taken at a high resolution with a wide angle lens, and all photos are perspective corrected, as well as color corrected and balanced prior to printing or posting. At this time, we offer these photos to the listing agents for free.

Preferred Staging is also a big believer of using technology to market properties, especially blogging. We blog about every property we stage on two different blogs as well as in local blogs, and we also highlight each property in our newsletter, which reaches about 5,000 Realtors in the Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC metro area.

Besides our own website, we also list your property on Preferred Staging's web page on StagedHomes.com, which gets over 10 million hits a day. That's even MORE exposure for your listing in places that are complimentary to your Realtor's web listings.

We look forward to working with you to stage your house and help it sell quickly and for top dollar.

For more information, visit us at www.preferredstaging.com.

Last week I wrote about the first steps Preferred Staging takes when you call us and schedule an appointment to see your listing, including consultations and proposals. So, now what happens when you have the proposal and we're good to go?

Well, let's start with the proposal first. Preferred Staging's proposals outline what rooms and areas are to be staged, and how much time we believe it will take us to stage the property - from loading the accessories we bring to the house to de-staging when the house has sold. We also provide a general list of accessories from our inventory that will be used, which runs the gamut from lamps, mirrors, rugs, and wall art, to place settings, floral arrangements, towels, and those extras that really make a room feel welcoming and inviting. The final part of our proposal includes the cost of rental furniture, if necessary.

If everything is acceptable, then Preferred Staging emails the client (whomever is paying for the staging) a Letter of Agreement for signing. If rental furniture is needed, then the rental company will email a separate contract. Preferred Staging only facilitates the contract, which is between the client and the rental company.

Once all signatures and deposits are received, then a delivery and staging date is scheduled, usually about 3-5 business days after signing the contract. We usually arrive at the property in the early morning (around 8am), unload the accessories, and then start to create wonderful rooms and spaces that will entice potential buyers to linger and envision themselves living in the house - a crucial first step in the buying process. Along the way, we also manage the furniture delivery and set up, hang pictures, set tables, make beds, create spas in the bathrooms... we virtually move in!

The time it takes to stage a house depends on how big the property is and how much staging is needed. A 2 bedroom condo can be completed in about 8 hours or less, while a 4,000 square foot house can take 2 days. Each house is unique - in its layout, square footage, price point, what rooms need to be staged, etc. - which is why it's virtually impossible to provide an estimate over the phone.

Next week I'll tell you how Preferred Staging keeps working for you, even after the staging is completed.

So when you're looking for a new home in Georgetown, what are you looking for? Well, it goes without saying that you're probably going to end up with an old house. But does that mean you have to decorate it like a museum? If you walked into a Georgetown row house up for sale, what would you expect to find?

Well, on one hand, I think you'd expect on some level to find that long ago elegance of a parlor. (Does anyone even use that word anymore?) On the other hand, though, you'd want more modern, urban, livable surroundings. This was my approach to a beautiful, vacant Georgetown row house we staged. When you walk in, you almost expect it to look a certain way, and this was achieved by renting a few antique pieces that really complimented the size and shape of the living room (or is it a parlor?), yet are actually comfortable and not overwhelming, and are OK to sit on and relax. All of the other rooms, however, reflected a modern elegance.

The dining room, which can easily seat 8 comfortably, had updated furniture and contemporary art work. It's a beautiful room with a lot of personality already built into it (see the built in cupboard?). The master bedroom had a gorgeous queen bed with a leather headboard and matching leather cubes at the foot of the bed. Certainly not something George Washington slept on!

All in all, this house as a staged property spoke to a broad audience of potential buyers. It's got a little bit of old and a lot of new, all of which you'd expect in Georgetown, right?

The feedback from the Realtors on this property was fantastic. Virtually everyone who saw the house thought it was lived in by some very neat people. I take that as a compliment, as it tells me that I achieved the warm and welcoming feel that a good staged home - vacant or occupied - should have.

But best of all was that this home, listed for $1.2M, sold in just 26 days! And the new home owners have been in touch with me regarding buying some of the furniture and accessories, and with questions about the size of rugs and tables. They also told me that they are going to copy my layout, as they can't imaging the furniture placed any other way.

There's more to the story of this staging, but that's for another blog! In the meantime, visit Preferred Staging's Gallery for more pictures of this fabulous home!

All the best,

Monica

I received a call from a realtor who lives in Northern Virginia wanting to know if I would come out to the Baltimore area to stage her house. The realtor really wanted a stager from the Northern Virginia area, as she would potentially use them again for local listings. In essence, it was a trial run. Now, Baltimore is a bit of a drive for me, but I've staged a home in Annapolis, and the drive is really not much longer than what some people commute everyday, so I agreed.

This gorgeous house is located in Reistertown, Maryland, and was worth the drive. I did a 2 hour consultation, and then returned a few weeks later to do a hands-on staging with the realtor/owner. We also went shopping together at the HomeGoods in Owens Mills, and we had a great time. Not only did I have the opportunity to work in a stunning home, I also met a fantastic realtor who is a really nice person, too.

Here is just one set of B&A's of the living room:

For this opportunity, I can thank our professional policy of always returning phone calls and email messages. Of course, we all know that the call back is just a normal part of doing business. But it's amazing how many people don't do it. This realtor had told me that she called another stager who is based in Maryland, but they never called her back, so she called me next. And I called her back. And that got me the job, and potentially more projects in the future.

All the best,

Monica

Of all the phone calls and inquiries I receive, one of the most common comments I hear is, "I've never used a stager before... so I'm really not sure how all of this works".

Actually, the process is quite simple. Generally, you tell us what you need and want and we take care of the rest. Well, maybe it's not that simple, but that's not too far from the truth, and it really is quite painless.

Each staging company has their own menu of services and fees, so make sure the company can do whatever it is you want. Preferred Staging will do as much as or as little as your client wants, and we offer a full compliment of services, from consultations (walk-through or written), staging occupied or vacant homes with rental furniture and accessories, and hands-on staging. We also do color consultations, and provide Redesign services (a.k.a. Staged for Living).

OK, so now you have a general idea of what we can do for you. But what's the first step? When you call Preferred Staging, we ask a variety of questions about the house so we can have a better understanding of what's really needed, which in many cases leads to a cost savings for your client by avoiding unnecessary staging fees. Generally, a consultation is the first step, and if the client wants Preferred Staging to do the actual staging, then we prepare a proposal for them. For vacants, however, a consultation is usually not needed and we skip right to the proposal.

Whether we meet for a consultation or a proposal, we always take reference photos. Then we proceed with the consultation, or we discuss what's needed for us to stage the house, such as what rooms are to be staged, vignette or full staging or somewhere in between, and most importantly the budget. Proposals are usually ready within 48 hours.

You've probably noticed that I keep using the word "proposal" instead of "bid". We view a bid as a set price - this is what we're going to do and this is what it will cost - period. However, we've learned that a "bid" per se doesn't always work for every client. Time frames and/or budgets change, and the bid may not be what is needed anymore. So Preferred Staging prepares proposals, which we consider a working document. The proposal can be modified to meet the client's needs, and it's not done until everyone is satisfied.

Next post I'll tell you about the staging process once the proposal is accepted and we are good to go.

All the best,

Monica